Ákos Tamás

15th May 1954 -

Ákos Tamás is designer and applied artist of the Herend Porcelain Manufactory. He was born in Szentgál in 1954. His skills for sculpture already manifested in his childhood. He graduated at the drawing course of the György Thuri Secondary School in Várpalota in 1972, and then at the porcelain faculty of the Hungarian University of Design in Budapest in 1977.

Since then he has been designer and applied artist of the Herend Porcelain Manufactory.

Besides his traditional, classical sculptures and sets, he developed a completely new porcelain style using unique technologies from delicate, pastel-coloured porcelain layers. His unique, membrane-thin, translucent petal bowls, coloured inlaid vases, organic ornaments and lamps quickly became popular mainly in Italy, Greece and Switzerland, and also reached London, Israel, Hong Kong and New Zealand. He aims to arouse the young generation’s interest in Herend porcelain with his genre-defining, modern style works.

Traditional handicraft and the “intelligence of hand” are basic values in all his works.

He already created works in almost every porcelain genre and size, from miniature medals to surreal figurine collages and several-meter-high public sculptures. He took part successfully in many national and international exhibitions. Besides many exhibition awards for excellence, he was recognized with three Design Awards for Excellence, the Special Award of the Minister President of Hungary, the Award of the Japanese Mino International Ceramics Festival, the Diploma of the I Korean Ceramics World Exhibition, the Special Award of the Pécs Ceramics Biennale and the Order of Merit of Veszprém County. He took part in a three-month study tour in Japan with the state scholarship of the Far Eastern country.

His large porcelain sculpture can be seen in front of the Veszprém County Hospital, and he designed the guardian angels at the entrance of the Herend Porcelain Manufactory as well as Ferenc Mádl’s – former President of Hungary – bust in the courtyard of the Manufactory.

He is member of the Association of Hungarian Fine and Applied Artists, the Association of Hungarian Creative Artists and the Terra Ceramic Sculpture Association.

Many of his works are held in national and international public collections from the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest to Germany, South Korea and Japan.